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Topic: AMAZING RACE ASIA (Read 2330 times)

THERE IS ALSO AN AMAZING RACE ASIA and AMAZING RACE CENTRAL EUROPE IS ALSO GOING ON...THE SAME FORMAT WITH THE ORIGINAL AMAZING RACE....AMAZING RACE ASIA BEGAN FILMING IN MAY WHILE AMAZING RACE CENTRAL EUROPE STILL UNKNOWN..

Singaporean artiste Allan Wu to host The Amazing Race Asia To make time for the show, Allan had to spend a little over a month away from his family. He is married to Wong Li-Lin and the couple have two children, daughter Sage and son Jonas, who was born in February this year.

“It’s not physically difficult for me to host this show, but it is mentally difficult because I have to be away so much from my kids,” said Allan. “But you know, now that Li-Lin is sort of semi-retired from show business, I have to get more jobs!” he said with a wink.

In the vein of the original show, 12 pairs of contestants from across the region will travel to different countries in Asia to compete for US$100,000($158,000) in prize money.

“The Amazing Race Asia is a dream come true for both the company and the competitors,” said Ow. “Even though we’re working on a smaller budget than the US show, the production is the same and there’s no less drama.”

Singaporean artiste Allan Wu to host The Amazing Race Asia To make time for the show, Allan had to spend a little over a month away from his family. He is married to Wong Li-Lin and the couple have two children, daughter Sage and son Jonas, who was born in February this year.

“It’s not physically difficult for me to host this show, but it is mentally difficult because I have to be away so much from my kids,” said Allan. “But you know, now that Li-Lin is sort of semi-retired from show business, I have to get more jobs!” he said with a wink.

In the vein of the original show, 12 pairs of contestants from across the region will travel to different countries in Asia to compete for US$100,000($158,000) in prize money.

“The Amazing Race Asia is a dream come true for both the company and the competitors,” said Ow. “Even though we’re working on a smaller budget than the US show, the production is the same and there’s no less drama.”

Published on Page A2-1 of the July 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

KUALA LUMPUR—The Asian version of the Emmy-winning reality show “The Amazing Race” was launched here on Tuesday by AXN, an international action and adventure cable channel from Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).

From all indications, AXN pulled out all the stops for this franchise. Ricky Ow, general manager of SPE Networks Asia told Inquirer Entertainment: “It’s a multi-million dollar, mega-sized production. At first, we thought it was a mission impossible—logistically, it was a nightmare. We had to move 60 to 80 production people and tons of equipment in a matter of days across different territories.”

Apart from the traveling crew, the production employed another 60 to 80 locals in each destination.

Ow volunteered that a month and a half was spent on principal photography. “We are now in post-production; we start promoting the show in six Asian countries on July 8.”

First stop is Seoul, Korea. Manila is the penultimate stop in September. Delhi, India, is the last stop in October. No definite premiere date has been set.

Grueling

Just like in the US program, which won three Emmy Awards, the Asian edition will pit 10 to 12 pairs in a grueling race in which they have to guess their next destination and outwit each other by coming up with the quickest possible route.

Ow said that over 1,000 aspirants from the Philippines to Nepal sent video auditions, some “professionally done and polished.” The big winners will have US$100,000 between them. (The prize in the US version is $1 million.)

“It seems the contestants joined not for the money, but for the bragging rights. It’s their passion,” Ow said quite seriously.

Acquiring the franchise, he noted, was a wise business decision. "Its first season was watched by 25 million viewers.”

Ow was sure the Asian edition had benefited from the lessons of the past nine seasons of the US original. He said he constantly communicated with one of the show’s creators, Bertram van Munster (along with Elise Doganieri), throughout production.

Ow said Van Munster had expressed “confidence” that AXN could pull it off. The next franchise is “The Amazing Race Central Europe,” which also began filming this year.

He revealed that they had also followed a “production bible—a manual that serves more as a guide than a rule book.” He explained: “It makes sure we stick to the spirit of the show, which is that the race cannot be interrupted by anything. Then again, no book can answer all the questions in life."

Allan Wu, a Singapore-based Chinese-American actor hand-picked to host the show, agreed: “The unpredictability, the drama and the suspense are but some of the secrets of the show’s success.”

Wu had bested models, veejays, TV hosts and actors from all over the region.

That experience made him “a better father,” he jested. “After that, changing diapers is a breeze.” He has two children, 21-month-old Sage and four-month-old Jonas, with his wife, Singapore actress Wong Li Lin.

He admitted that being a graduate of another successful reality show prepared him well for this new assignment. “I’m very much into sports— rugby, cycling, snowboarding, beach volleyball. I also studied Wushu in a Shaolin Temple.”

Apparently, his Hollywood training is also helping. Wu explained: “At the pit stop (finish line), I have to be poker faced to keep the contestants in suspense. Are they in or out? It’s a tough job, telling people they have been eliminated.”